Love Sick
by augustdarkstar
Summary: Who thought Jake and Bella would have stubbornness in common? Teenagers *rolls eyes* Set in New Moon AU


**Love Sick**

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

Bella sat on the beach, the wind blowing her long hair off of her shoulders. She reached up and gathered it up in her hands, quickly plaiting it into a long braid. She drew her knees up to her chest and looped her arms around them. The sound of yelling made Bella glance toward the sea, a small smile made her lips curve upwards as she saw her best friend calling out her name. She watched him grin at her as he dived beneath the waves. Even though the water must be freezing, he didn't feel it at all.

She got up and began to walk over to him. The cool sea breeze made goose pimples run up and down her arms, she began to rub them to try and infuse some warmth into her chilled skin. "Jake?" She called out.

Jacob suddenly reappeared above the choppy waves, his jet black hair plastered to his head. He began to swim toward her, his strong muscular arms cutting easily through the sea. He reached the shallower water and stood up; the water dripped down his tan skin, defining his toned body to perfection. Bella blushed as he ran to her side. "What is it?" He asked her, leaning down to retrieve his abandoned t-shirt, he began to wipe the excess water off of his skin.

She ducked her head to hide the redness tingeing her cheeks. "I have to go home now."

"Already?" Jacob threw the damp t-shirt around his shoulders as he studied her carefully.

"Yes." Bella couldn't quite meet his eye. "I have some stuff I need to do."

"Like what?" Jacob wasn't going to make it easy for her.

"I have assignments and I need to make dinner for my dad." The excuses sounded feeble even to Bella's ears.

"I see." Jacob's expression darkened. "We better get you home then."

"Thanks." Bella quickly spun round and began to march up the beach, Jacob following slowly behind.

* * *

Jacob parked the VW Rabbit outside the Swan house. He gripped the steering wheel tightly as Bella got out of the passenger side. "Thanks for today." She said quickly as she began to shut the door.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Jacob asked her quickly. "We don't have to go to the beach, we can hang at my house or yours and watch movies."

Bella hesitated. Despite her melancholy mood, she had enjoyed spending the day with Jacob at the beach. He was good company and for a while she had almost forgotten her unhappiness. Even though he had tried to hide it, she could clearly see that he was developing feelings for her. Bella didn't want to give him the wrong idea. Spending so much time with him just encouraged his crush. She needed to put some space between them.

"I'm sorry Jake, but I have other plans for tomorrow." She replied softly.

Jacob frowned. "What about Wednesday? I have a patrol shift but I finish at six, we could do something then."

"I can't Jake. I'm tied up all the rest of the week. Sorry." Bella said lamely.

"Sure you are." Jacob gave her a hurt look. "See you around." He quickly reversed out of the drive and drove off back toward La Push.

Bella watched him go with a heavy heart. She was going to miss him terribly, but she knew she had done the right thing. Maybe with some time apart his crush would lessen and then perhaps they could go back to just being friends without any subtext hanging over them. She sighed sadly as she ran up the steps and headed inside the house.

* * *

Two days passed without any contact from Jacob and Bella was struggling. With her father at work and school finished for the day, the evenings seemed endless. She was lonely and without her best friend to distract her from her sadness, she sank into a deep depression. Bella had already cleaned the house from top to bottom, her dad's uniforms had been ironed, his dinner was warming in the oven and all her assignments had been completed. She tried sitting down and reading a book, but the romantic storyline only served to remind her of what she had lost. She tried listening to some music, but the sad songs she chose just made her more melancholy.

Bella lay on her bed and stared miserably up at the ceiling. Her hands were clasped together as she wondered just how her life had spiralled to such a low point. She remembered reading a book once about love, it had a whole section dealing with heart break and how to beat it, but for Bella the pain she was feeling at the loss of her first love seemed insurmountable. Edward was supposed to have been her forever. She had let herself believe that someone really could love her unconditionally, just as she was. But she had been sadly mistaken.

That was why she needed to keep her distance from Jacob, she didn't want to do to him what Edward had so callously done to her. She cared a lot for her best friend, but love? No she had nothing left to offer anyone in that regard. Her heart was a dead weight in her chest, broken and beyond repair. The ever ready tears spilled out of her eyes as she gave into her sadness, the silent house the only witness to her despair.

* * *

It had now been a whole week without Jacob and Bella was beginning to fade away. Her appetite had disappeared and she was thinner then she had ever been. Black circles underscored her eyes as she went about her everyday tasks on autopilot. At school she was like an automaton, she answered when she was spoken to but the rest of the time she wandered the halls and classrooms in a fog of despair, endlessly trying to escape from her own head, still clinging to the belief that she was doing the right thing, even though the separation from him was killing her.

At home Charlie watched her worriedly, asking her constantly if she was okay and forcing her to eat, even if it was only a slice of toast. Bella dutifully ate when in front of him, but she had learned ways of disposing of unwanted food without him knowing. She kept mainly to her room, often just laying on her bed, crying or staring sightlessly up at the ceiling. Time seemed endless and she began to wonder exactly what the hell she was doing.

* * *

It had now been ten days without a sign of Jacob; Bella's stubbornness was weakening. She began to hover by the phone, willing it to ring. If he contacted her first, then that would make it okay. It would mean she hadn't given in, the decision would be taken out of her hands. But Jacob didn't ring. Every ten minutes she would race out into the hallway, certain that the phone was ringing, but each time she was greeted by silence.

* * *

On the twelfth day Bella didn't get up. She was now so weak from lack of food that any remaining energy she had deserted her. Charlie tried to get his daughter to go and see a doctor but she refused. She rolled onto her side and pulled the covers over her head to shut him out. He didn't know what to do. He called Renee, but there was no answer, so in desperation he called his best friend, Billy.

"She's bad." Charlie told him fearfully. "It's so much worse then when Cullen left her the first time. I have no idea what to do."

Billy sighed heavily. "Jake is not much better." He confided.

"Jake?" Charlie was surprised. "He hasn't been around the last two weeks, when I tried to talk to Bells about it she would just clam up. Have they fallen out?"

"No, they're both sick." Billy advised.

"Sick?" Charlie asked in alarm. "With what?"

"They are love sick, Chief. It's as simple as that." Billy said wearily. "But it seems they are both too stubborn to do anything."

"What do we do?" Charlie begged, feeling out of his depth with all this talk of emotions.

"Leave it with me. I'll send Jake round straight away." Billy promised.

"Thanks." Charlie said in relief. He knew his best friend would have the answer.

* * *

As soon as Jacob heard how ill Bella was, his hurt feelings and stubborn pride vanished. He was out of the door and behind the wheel before his dad had even finished speaking. The last two weeks had been the worst of his life. He had lost his appetite and was now several pounds lighter, not a good thing when you needed food to fuel your energy when you phased. He had hardly slept and he had to force his weary body to go out on his daily patrols. Every day he would sit by the phone, waiting for Bella to call. He knew that she would cave in eventually, but as each day passed he seriously began to think he had lost her for good. But it appeared she had been doing exactly the same as him. A grim smile crossed his face as he realised just how stubborn both of them could be.

* * *

Bella sighed as she heard the door to her room open. It was probably her dad again with another plate of food. She wished he would just understand she wanted to be alone to wallow. All afternoon she had been going through her reasons for staying away from Jacob; all of them sounded pathetic and hollow. She had finally admitted to herself that she needed him, like you needed the air to breathe. But it was all too late. The very fact that he hadn't been in touch told her that he had finally given up waiting for her and moved on. So instead of getting up and doing something about it, she remained in bed, determined to let him live his life in peace.

She heard footsteps approaching her bed and then the dip as her father sat beside her on the mattress. Bella still refused to turn around, although the tempting smell of burnt toast made her mouth water unexpectedly. Jacob always burnt the toast when he made it, the memory hurt. "I'm not hungry, dad."

"Okay, all the more for me then."

Bella's eyes widened and she rolled over, nearly squashing the plate of toast. "Jacob?" She breathed, staring at him as if he was a ghost.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." He said lamely, giving her a small smile.

Bella's heart lurched in her chest, the movement was painful, she hadn't felt it beat for days. "You came."

"Of course I came. What have you been doing to yourself, Bells? You're so thin." Jacob pushed the plate toward her.

Bella slowly pulled herself upright and tentatively took a slice and began to take small bites. The burnt toast tasted heavenly. She chewed thoughtfully as she studied him. She was certain he had lost weight too, and by the dark circles under his eyes, it was obvious he hadn't been sleeping much either. "You should eat some too." She picked up another slice and handed it to him.

Jacob took it and began to eat too. They stared at each other silently while they ate, both wondering what to say. As always it was Jacob who took the plunge. "Why did you push me away? I waited for you to call and you didn't."

Bella nearly choked on her toast. Trust Jacob to get right to the heart of the matter. She managed to regain her composure and swallow the rest of the toast. She felt her cheeks heat up as she blushed. It was something she did a lot around him lately. "I didn't want to hurt you." She admitted.

"Well you did." Jacob said bluntly. "Why are you so afraid to open up to me?"

"I told you before, there's nothing left of my heart to give anyone." Bella trotted out the same tired excuses.

Jacob reached out and placed his hand on her chest, right over her heart. His touch made it speed up exponentially. "Seems perfectly fine to me."

"You know what I mean." Bella protested.

"No not really. I know you fancy me, Bells." Jacob raised his eyebrows at her.

"How do you know?" Bella spluttered, her cheeks were now blazing red.

"By the way you blush every time you see me and the way you look at me when you think I don't notice. You can keep pushing me away as much as you like in some vain attempt to convince yourself that you don't love me more then the bloodsucker who abandoned you. But I know that you got over him months ago, the reason why you are not eating now is because you thought you had lost me too." Jacob looked at her challengingly, waiting for her to issue the usual denials.

Instead she sat up straighter and stared into his eyes. "Maybe you're right, Jake. But what about you? It seems that I am not the only one who has been sick. You've definitely lost weight and I can see you've not been sleeping. Is it because you were scared that you had lost me?"

Jacob shifted closer to her, a grin lighting up his face. "You are one stubborn woman." He said teasingly.

"And you are one stubborn man." Bella retorted. "Why didn't you call me?"

"Why didn't you call me?" Jacob reached out and cupped her face in his hand.

"Because you were right. I am in love with you and I didn't know how to handle it." Bella blurted out in a rush, her cheeks heating up again as she blushed for the second time.

"Me too." Jacob confessed.

"Really?" Bella felt her lips curve up into a smile. It felt alien to her, feeling hope.

"Yeah." Jacob leaned in close, his lips millimetres from hers. "Let's make a pledge not to be such stubborn asses in future, huh?"

"Done." Bella whispered, her eyes riveted to his lips.

Just as Jacob closed the gap they heard someone clearing their throat. They both glanced over at the doorway where Charlie was standing. "I take it you both feel better." He asked with a teasing glint in his eye.

_**A/N-thanks for reading!**_


End file.
